HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 211-06City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Repor .
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES
MAY 8, 2006 CMR: 211:06
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION TO THE
CITY COUNCIL TO DIRECT THE CITY ATTORNEY TO DRAFT A
VOTER CONFIDENCE RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
Staff and the City of Palo Alto’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) request that the City
Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Voter Confidence Resolution.
BACKGROUND
At its January and February 2006 meetings, the Human Relations Commission (HRC) discussed
the election process and entertained testimony from residents regarding the voting system and
the problem with voting machines in Santa Clara County. The HRC’s concerns are that the
voting machine system is unregulated. Some of the machines that have been tested had as much
as a 30 percent error rate. Currently, the voting machines do not have a paper back-up system to
provide for accurate recounts. The HRC is in support of absentee ballots because voting on
paper is the only way to ensure an accurate recount of votes.
The HRC is recommending a Voter Confidence Resolution as a way of sending a message to
local, state and federal election officials that we must return to a more participatory democracy.
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION
At its February 9, 2006 meeting, the HRC discussed a draft of the Voter Confidence Resolution.
After a lengthy discussion, the HRC approved the final changes to the draft resolution
(Attachment A). HRC and City staff agreed to forward the resolution to the City Council for
adoption and have the City Council direct the City Attorney to draft the final version of the
resolution.
RESOURCE IMPACT
There should not be a significant impact on staff time.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Draft Voter Confidence Resolution
CMR: 211:06 Page 1 of 2
PREPARED BY:
° DivisiOn Man ger Cubberley & Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
~artment
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
CMR: 211:06 Page 2 of 2
****NOT YET APPROVED****
RESOLUTION NO.
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PALO ALTO IN SUPPORT OF VOTER
CONFIDENCE
WHEREAS, an election is a competition for 6he privilege
of representing the people; and
WHEREAS, each voter is entitled to cast a single ballot
to record his or her preferences for representation; and
WHEREAS, the records of individual votes are the basis
for counting and potentially re-counting a collective total and
declaring a winner; and
WHEREAS, an election’s outcome is a matter of public
record,based on a finite collection of immutable smaller
records;and
WHEREAS, a properly functioning election system should
produce substantial agreement about the results indicated by a
fixed set of unchanging records; and
WHEREAS, recent elections have been conducted under
conditions that have not produced substantial agreement about
the outcome; and
WHEREAS, future elections cannot possibly produce
substantial agreement as long as any condition permits an
inconclusive count or re-count of votes; and
WHEREAS, inconclusive counts and re-counts have occurred
during recent elections due in part to electronic voting devices
that do not produce a paper record of votes to be re-counted if
necessary; and
WHEREAS, inconclusive results have also been caused by
election machines losing data, producing negative vote totals,
showing more votes than there are registered voters, and
persistently and automatically swapping a voter’s vote from his
or her chosen candidate to an opponent; and
WHEREAS, inconclusive results make it impossible to
measure the will of the people in their preferences for
representation; and
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****NOT YET APPROVED****
WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence refers to the
Consent of the Governed as the self-evident truth from which
Government derives "Just Power"; and
WHEREAS, inconclusive results, by definition, mean that
the true outcome of an election cannot be known, there is no
basis for confidence in the results reported from such
elections;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto
does RESOLVE as follows:
SECTION i. The following is a comprehensive election
reform platform likely to ensure conclusive election results and
create a basis for confidence in U.S. federal, State and local
elections:
(i) Voting processes owned and operated entirely in
the public domain, and
(2) Support of clean money laws, and
(3) A requirement that the top elected official
responsible for overseeing elections in each jurisdiction not
serve in any capacity in any political campaign over which he or
she has jurisdiction, and
(4) Consistent national standards for security,
including physical and electronic security of election systems,
including tallying systems, and
(5) Uniform and inclusive voter registration
standards and accurate and transparent voting roll purges, based
on fair and consistent national standards, and
(6) Consistent national standards for the number of
voting machines and poll workers per i00 voters in each
precinct, to ensure reasonable and uniform waiting times for all
voters, and
(7) A voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast
and additional uniform standards determined by a non-partisan
nationally recognized commission, and
(8) Declaring election day a national holiday, and
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****NOT YET APPROVED****
(9) Counting all votes publicly and locally in the
presence of citizen witnesses and credentialed members of the
media, and
(i0) Equal time provisions to be restored by the media
along with a measurable increase in local, public control of the
airwaves, and
(!i) Preferential voting and proportional
representation to replace the winner-take-all system for
Federal, State and !ocal elections, and
(12) Renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 due to
expire in 2007.
In passing this resolution, the City Clerk of the City
of Palo Alto, California, will follow the above guidelines,
where possible, to protect, and ensure voter confidence. This
resolution will be sent to California State and Federal
legislators, the California Secretary of State, and the Santa
Clara County Registrar of Voters.
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****NOT YET APPROVED****
Be it further resolved that the City Council, by
adopting this resolution, hereby states that:
When elections are conducted under conditions that
prevent conclusive outcomes, the Consent of the Governed is not
being sought. Absent this self-evident source of legitimacy,
such Consent is not to be assumed or taken for granted.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Mayor
APPROVED:
Sr. Assistant City Attorney City Manager
Director of Community
Services
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